Patna high court asks govt to file affidavit on strike violence

Patna high court Chief Justice B M Lal has directed the Bihar government and the Bar Association to file separate affidavits on Tuesday regarding loss of property during Friday's Rashtriya Janata Dal-sponsored dawn-to-dusk statewide strike.

Justice Lal also directed the state government officials to file an affidavit regarding the measures taken to tackle the strike.

The order was passed following complaints made by some lawyers.

Earlier in the day, Justice Lal had summoned senior state officials and asked them to file an affidavit by Friday evening itself, which was not complied with.

Bihar Governor A R Kidwai also took a serious view of the lawlessness perpetrated by RJD activists during the strike called to protest former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav's arrest in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam.

Governor A R Kidwai summoned state chief secretary B P Verma and Director General of Police S K Saxena to Raj Bhawan as reports of violence and damage to public property reached Patna. He obtained first-hand information on the developments besides asking them to ensure that law and order situation did not deteriorate further.

Meanwhile, the Bihar unit of the Indian Police Service Association condemned the humiliation meted out to the chief secretary and the DGP by a section of lawyers in the Patna high court premises.

The association said the officials were ''jostled around and heckled''.

UNI